Nonstop flight route between Alta, Norway and Pico Island, Azores, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Alta Airport (ALF), Alta, Norway and Pico Airport (PIX), Pico Island, Azores, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,854 miles (or 4,594 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Alta Airport and Pico Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Alta Airport and Pico Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Alta Airport (ALF):

• A proposal by a consultant company, ordered by the Ministry of Transport and Communications in 2011, suggested that starting in 2013 the subsidized routes in Finnmark should follow a coastal route, leaving those to Kirkenes and the county capital of Vadsø as the only subsidized routes remaining at Alta.
• The location in Elvebakken was somewhat controversial in Alta, especially as the airport would be located so close to the town center, potentially causing noise pollution.
• SAS Commuter was established in 1988 and started operations in Northern Norway in May 1990, making Alta its central hub for Finnmark.
• Because of Alta Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Alta Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• Activity at Alta Airport peaked in the following years.
• However, no progress was made with the airfield for over a decade.
• The closest airport to Alta Airport (ALF) is Lakselv Airport, Banak (LKL), which is located 38 miles (62 kilometers) E of ALF.
• The airport is located at Elvebakken and Altagård, on the southern shore of the Altafjord and at the mouth of the river of Altaelva, which is about 4 kilometers east of Bossekop in the town of Alta.
• Alta Airport handled 353,051 passengers last year.
• Local politicians started discussing the airfield plans again in the mid-1950s, and an airport for Alta was included in the national airport plan launched in 1956.
• The furthest airport from Alta Airport (ALF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,502 miles (16,901 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Alta Airport", another name for ALF is "Alta lufthavn".
• Alta Airport (ALF) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Pico Airport (PIX):

• The closest airport to Pico Airport (PIX) is Horta International Airport (HOR), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) W of PIX.
• Because of Pico Airport's relatively low elevation of 112 feet, planes can take off or land at Pico Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• In addition to being known as "Pico Airport", another name for PIX is "Aeroporto do Pico".
• Managed by SATA Gestão de Aeródromos, it has an 1,754 metres operational runway, with a width of 45 metres.
• The furthest airport from Pico Airport (PIX) is Merimbula Airport (MIM), which is nearly antipodal to Pico Airport (meaning Pico Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Merimbula Airport), and is located 12,291 miles (19,781 kilometers) away in Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia.
• Pico Airport (PIX) currently has only 1 runway.
• On April 2005, Pico received its first intercontinental flight, a direct flight from Lisbon.
• The first studies were completed to construct a runway for the remote island of Pico during the post-War era when, instead, a final decision in 1946 saw the construction of an aerodrome on the island of Faial.
• The airport on Pico is situated 8 kilometres from the urban center of Madalena, at an altitude of 34 metres above sea level.